Assessment

This area of study requires students to either adapt an existing scientific investigation or design their own scientific investigation that they then conduct to generate appropriate qualitative and/or quantitative data. The investigation should relate to content in Unit 1 Areas of Study 1 and/or 2. Teachers may determine the level of scaffolding provided to students when determining whether students will conduct a student-adapted or student-designed investigation; however, for this area of study it would be expected that the investigation would involve either a guided inquiry, a coupled inquiry or an open inquiry approach.

The same inquiry approach and/or methodology may be undertaken by the whole class or different inquiry approaches and/or methodologies may be undertaken by different students in the class, depending on factors such as the nature of the investigation question, students’ prior inquiry skills and the level of complexity of the investigation. In all investigations, students must generate primary data; however, depending on the type of inquiry undertaken, students may generate this data individually or in groups. Additionally, students may analyse their own primary data, de-identified data from another student and/or collated class data to increase the size of the data set for analysis.

Students may work individually or in a group to undertake their investigations, but each student’s presentation of the findings of their investigation should be completed individually. Students are required to present a report of their investigation. The teacher may choose the format that students are required to use in presenting their report or, alternatively, students may be provided with a choice of presentation formats to be used, as outlined on page 21 of the study design.

This area of study requires students to develop a question that explores a contemporary bioethical issue either in relation to one of the topics provided in the introduction to Area of Study 3, or a question that relates to another bioethical issue related to content in Area of Study 1 and/or Area of Study 2. Teachers may support the class to identify and choose a bioethical issue that all students will explore or allow students to choose and explore different bioethical issues. Teachers should access and select a contemporary (i.e. arisen within the last calendar year) bioethical issue in order to reflect current practice in the discipline and to assist with assessment authentication.

Students may be scaffolded to identify the ethical concepts and approaches to bioethics that are relevant to the selected issue or be assessed on their ability to undertake these skills. Students may work individually or in a group to identify and analyse the selected bioethical issue; however, the selection and justification of a response to the bioethical issue should be completed individually. The VCE Biology Student Ethical Issue Reflection Tool or other suitable graphic organiser may be used to support students to construct their response. Responses may take a variety of formats, including a multimodal or oral presentation, opinion article or letter to the editor, graphic organiser or infographic, essay or set of structured questions.

In VCE Biology, students are expected to demonstrate their level of understanding of key knowledge and application of the key science skills using a variety of School-assessed Coursework (SAC) assessment tasks as listed in the VCE Biology Study Design. Teachers should explicitly teach the VCE Biology Units 1–4 skills that are included under the key science skills on pages 7 and 8 and teachers should use the key knowledge listed for the outcomes, as well as the Units 1–4 Biology Key science skills included under the ‘Cross-study specifications’, when developing school-assessed coursework tasks to determine students’ level of achievement at Units 3 and 4.

The VCAA VCE Assessment Principles underpin all VCE assessment practices. When developing SAC tasks, teachers should also refer to the VCAA policies and school assessment procedures as specified in the VCE and VCAL Administrative Handbook section: Scored assessment: School-based Assessment.

Designing the task

Each SAC task must meet the VCE Assessment Principles, allow students to demonstrate their highest level of performance and allow for student work to be authenticated as their own. Students should be familiar with, and understand the meaning of, the common terms embedded in the outcomes of the study design and each of the designated SAC task types. Each task has different cognitive requirements that assess different key science skills, which should be explicitly taught and embedded in learning activities throughout the course of study. In this way, students will have the opportunity to practise and demonstrate a range of responses using the language of the study design.

Assessing the task

To assess a student’s level of performance, the VCAA Performance descriptors can be used and adapted to the specifics of each SAC task, or a school-specific marking guide can be developed. The assessment instrument (performance descriptors, rubric and/or marking guide) should reflect the outcome, key knowledge and relevant key science skills. The SAC task and assessment instrument should be explained to students before they commence the task.

Time

SAC tasks must be a part of the regular curriculum and assessment program and must not unduly add to the workload associated with that program. They must be competed mainly in class and within the timeframes indicated in the VCE Biology Study Design.

Conditions and authentication

Teachers must consider the conditions in which the SAC task is completed and the authentication strategies relevant for each assessment task. Information regarding VCAA authentication rules can be found in the VCAA VCE and VCAL Administrative Handbook section: Scored assessment: School-based Assessment.

Students should be provided with clear written instructions about conditions of each SAC task. These instructions should include the specific key knowledge and VCE Biology Units 1–4 Key that will be assessed in the task, how the task will be structured and any materials or resources that will be allowed when completing the assessment task.

Students may be presented with a classic, contemporary or original biological case study for analysis and evaluation. Case studies may involve the analysis and evaluation of primary data or secondary data. Contemporary case studies are those undertaken or published in print and/or electronic media within the last calendar year. Case studies do not necessarily need to be sourced from original journal articles; reports and or references to case studies accessed through a variety of print and electronic sources may be used as long as they contain sufficient information for students to be able to identify, analyse and evaluate the relevant biological concepts, method, data and findings.

Define the parameters that will form the basis of the assessment task

This sample approach to developing an assessment task is selected from the assessment tasks listed on pages 32 and 38 of the VCE Biology Study Design, specifically the task that requires students to ‘analyse and evaluate a selected biological case study’. The task accounts for 40 marks of the 200 marks available for School-assessed Coursework in Unit 3 and Unit 4 and contributes 10 per cent to a student’s study score for VCE Biology.

Decide on the structure and conditions of the task

Review the outcome that the case study has been chosen for and identify the key knowledge and the specific Units 1–4 Biology Key science skills (listed on pages 7 and 8 of the study design) that students will be expected to develop and demonstrate.

Decide whether the task will be undertaken in a written, multimodal or oral format. Approximately 50–70 minutes for a written response should be allocated, and 10 minutes for a multimodal or oral presentation. Written tasks must be completed under test conditions or as an open-book activity; for example, where students are provided the opportunity to annotate the selected case study prior to completing the written component. Time to read and annotate stimulus materials may be provided in addition to the time allocated for the written component.

Oral or multimodal tasks may be presented live or may be pre-recorded. Time to research and prepare the presentation should be provided in addition to the time allocated for the presentation component.

Depending on the key knowledge and key science skills selected, as well as the structure of the task, different case studies may be analysed and evaluated by different students. Where choice of case study is provided, teachers should confirm that the task is comparable in scope and demand to ensure that the VCE Assessment Principles are met.

Teachers must decide the most appropriate time to set the task. This decision is the result of several considerations including:

• the estimated time it will take to cover the key knowledge and relevant key science skills
• when assessment tasks are being conducted in other studies and the workload implications for students.

Prior to the task students should be advised of the timeline, the conditions under which the task will be conducted and be informed of the key knowledge and key science skills that will be assessed.

Design the assessment task

When designing this task, teachers should refer to the following:

• Introduction and key knowledge of the outcome for the task selected
• Cross-study specifications, including key science skills outlined on pages 7 and 8 of the VCE Biology Study Design
• performance descriptors for the ‘analysis and evaluation of a biological case study’ included under Assessment. The performance descriptors may be modified to suit the key knowledge and key science skills addressed in each task. If devising a marking scheme, teachers should ensure higher order thinking skills such as analysis and evaluation are appropriately represented.  

The selected biological case study should allow students to demonstrate their understanding of the key knowledge in the case study that relates to the outcome selected. Students should also be provided with the opportunity to analyse and evaluate data and methodology and methods used to generate data, as well as the ability to construct evidence-based arguments and draw conclusions, and analyse, evaluate and communicate scientific ideas.

The selected biological case study may be analysed in depth in terms of the purpose, design, findings and implications of the case study, or students could be asked to apply the biological information, ideas, concepts, theories and models contained in the case study to novel or unfamiliar contexts.

Primary and/or secondary data may be provided for students to analyse and evaluate. Teachers may use student-generated data from a case study investigation conducted as part of the teaching and learning program, or collated primary data from a class, across different classes within a school or across different schools or settings. Secondary data may be accessed through a variety of different print and electronic resources or may include data generated by VCE Biology students in prior years. If data previously generated by student is used, then permission should be obtained from the students and the data de-identified.

Students may be presented with an overarching question that relates to a selected biological case study, which they are required to research and develop a response. Students could also be provided with more open-ended questions that ask them to specify aspects of the case study, such as the methodology and method that they used to generate primary data, or aspects provided in a stimulus such as an original journal article.

Depending on the case study selected, students could also be asked to compare the way that relevant biological concepts, method, data and findings have been communicated across different sources, such as an original science journal article, article in a newspaper, article in a science-based newsletter or online media source. This approach provides students with the opportunity to analyse and evaluate how communicating information relating to the selected case study uses different scientific genres and expression based on the specific audience and purposes.

If structured questions are used as part of a written task, the assessment task should have a number of different questions at various levels of complexity to allow for student performance at a range of levels. Specific VCE Biology Units 1–4 Key science skills should be blended with questions that explore key knowledge so that the key knowledge and key science skills are assessed in the context of the selected biological case study.

Questions and prompts should also provide students with the parameters and framework for a response that reflects the expected level of achievement or amount of allocated marks. This will help to discriminate between student responses during assessment. Examples of questions and prompts with clearly defined parameters include: ‘Discuss how the methods used in the case study have enabled researchers to …’ ‘Discuss with reference to the information provided …’ ‘… Evaluate the findings of the case study …’ Examples of directive terms that require higher order thinking skills include: compare, account for, explain, examine the reasons for, predict, suggest, evaluate, analyse and justify. Higher order thinking skills could be tested in questions requiring students to synthesise their own knowledge and understanding with that provided in stimulus material or to apply the information provided to new or novel contexts.

It is important that consideration be given to how the task will be marked and the expected levels of achievement or responses that will be required as part of the design process, prior to students undertaking the task.

Clear communication regarding expectations of students concerning any annotations of stimulus material and/or use of notes in the assessed component of the ‘analysis and evaluation of a selected biological case study’ is important for authentication. Authentication strategies can include but are not limited to: the annotation of stimulus material or creation of notes under teacher supervision, the collection of annotations/notes prior to the assessment lesson and re-distribution at the start of the assessment task, regular sighting of any research or preparation work conducted out of class that is recorded by the teacher, use of the ‘VCAA School-assessed Coursework Authentication’ form for work completed outside of class, changing the case study used to develop the assessment task from year to year and changing the outcome that is used to form the basis of the case study from year to year. Teachers also need to ensure that any publicly available materials used to develop the assessment task are suitably adapted and/or modified to ensure that students’ work can be authenticated as their own.

Define the parameters that will form the basis of the assessment task

This sample approach to developing an assessment task is selected from the assessment tasks listed on page 32 and 38 of the VCE Biology Study Design, specifically the task that requires students to ‘analyse and evaluate generated primary and/or secondary data’. The task accounts for 40 marks of the 200 marks available for School-assessed Coursework in Unit 3 and Unit 4 and contributes 10 per cent to a student’s study score for VCE Biology.

Decide on the structure and conditions of the task

Review the outcome that the task has been chosen for and identify the key knowledge and the specific Units 1–4 Biology Key science skills (on pages 7 and 8 of the study design) that students will be expected to develop and demonstrate.

Decide whether the task will be undertaken in a written, multimodal or oral format. Approximately 50–70 minutes for a written response should be allocated, and 10 minutes for a multimodal or oral presentation. Written tasks must be completed under test conditions, or as an open-book activity; for example, where students are provided with the opportunity to analyse and evaluate data provided to complete the written component. Time to generate, record and/or collate data may be provided in addition to the time allocated for the written component.

Oral or multimodal tasks may be presented live or may be pre-recorded. Time to prepare the oral or multimodal presentation should be provided in addition to the time allocated for the presentation component.
Depending on the key knowledge and key science skills selected, as well as the structure of the task, different primary and or secondary data may be compared and evaluated by different students. Where choice of data source is provided, teachers should ensure that the task is comparable in scope and demand to ensure that the VCE Assessment Principles are met.

Teachers must decide the most appropriate time to set the task. This decision is the result of several considerations including:

• the estimated time it will take to cover the key knowledge and relevant key science skills
• when assessment tasks are being conducted in other studies and the workload implications for students.

Prior to the task students should be advised of the timeline, the conditions under which the task will be conducted and be informed of the key knowledge and key science skills that will be assessed.

Design the assessment task

When designing this task, teachers should refer to the following:

• Introduction and key knowledge of the outcome for the task selected
• Cross-study specifications, including key science skills outlined on pages 7 and 8 of the VCE Biology Study Design
• performance descriptors for the ‘analysis and evaluation of a biological case study’ included under Assessment. The performance descriptors may be modified to suit the key knowledge and key science skills addressed in each task. If devising a marking scheme, teachers should ensure higher order thinking skills such as analysis and evaluation are appropriately represented.  

The assessment task should assess students’ ability to analyse, interpret and use primary and/or secondary data, allow students to construct evidence-based arguments and draw conclusions and demonstrate their ability to evaluate and communicate scientific information. Students may also be asked to evaluate the methodologies and methods that were used to generate the data presented, including limitations and possible sources of error and uncertainty.

Primary and/or secondary data may be provided for students to analyse and evaluate. Teachers may use student-generated data from a case study investigation conducted as part of the teaching and learning program, or collated primary data from a class, across different classes within a school or across different schools or settings. Secondary data may be accessed through a variety of different print and electronic resources or may include data generated by VCE Biology students in prior years. If data previously generated by students is used, then permission should be obtained from the students and the data de-identified. If primary data is used, it should be generated as part of the regular teaching and learning program and appropriately recorded in students’ logbooks.

Students may be presented with an overarching question related to the selected outcome to which they are required to develop a response, using data provided or evidence from their logbook to support their analysis and evaluation. Students could also be provided with more open-ended questions; for example, questions that ask them to analyse the data of the scientific investigation presented and discuss the results in terms of the investigation question, any conclusions that can be drawn and identification of further evidence that may be required.

Depending on the type of data used to form the basis of the assessment task, students could also be asked to compare the way that data and findings have been communicated across different sources, such as an original science journal article, article in a newspaper, article in a science-based newsletter or online media source. This approach provides students with the opportunity to analyse and evaluate how communicating data and information uses different scientific genres and expression based on the specific audience and purposes. If primary data is used, students could be asked to communicate the analysis and evaluation of their data for different purposes or specific audiences.

If structured questions are used as part of a written task, the assessment task should have a number of different questions at various levels of complexity to allow for student performance at a range of levels. Specific VCE Biology Units 1–4 Key science skills should be blended with questions that explore key knowledge so that the key knowledge and key science skills are assessed in the context of the data provided.

Questions and prompts should also provide students with the parameters and framework for a response that reflects the expected level of achievement or amount of allocated marks. This will help to discriminate between student responses during assessment. Examples of questions with clearly defined parameters include: ‘Analyse the results of the research study presented’ ‘What conclusion can be made …’ ‘How does the data shown in the table explain …’ ‘Describe the relationship shown in …’ ‘Discuss how the results support …’ Examples of directive terms that require higher order thinking skills include: compare, account for, explain, examine the reasons for, predict, suggest, evaluate, analyse and justify.

It is important that consideration be given to how the task will be marked and the expected levels of achievement or responses that will be required as part of the design process, prior to students undertaking the task.

Clear communication regarding expectations of students concerning any annotations of data and/or use of stimulus material in the assessed component of the ‘analysis and evaluation of primary and/or secondary data’ is important for authentication. Authentication strategies can include, but are not limited to: the annotation of logbooks or creation of notes under teacher supervision, the collection of logbooks/annotations prior to the assessment lesson and re-distribution at the start of the assessment task, regular sighting of preparation work conducted out of class which is recorded by the teacher, use of the ‘VCAA School-assessed Coursework Authentication’ form for work completed outside of class, changing the data sources used to develop the assessment task from year to year and changing the outcome that is used to form the basis of the assessment task from year to year. Teachers also need to ensure that any publicly available materials used to develop the assessment task are suitably adapted and/or modified to ensure that students’ work can be authenticated as their own.

Define the parameters that will form the basis of the assessment task

This sample approach to developing an assessment task is selected from the assessment tasks listed on page 32 and 38 of the VCE Biology Study Design, specifically the task that requires students to ‘analyse and evaluate a selected biological case study’. The task accounts for 40 marks of the 200 marks available for School-assessed Coursework in Unit 3 and Unit 4 and contributes 10 per cent to a student’s study score for VCE Biology.

Decide on the structure and conditions of the task

Review the outcome that the task has been chosen for and identify the key knowledge and the specific Units 1–4 Biology Key science skills (on pages 7 and 8of the study design) that students will be expected to develop and demonstrate.

Decide whether the task will be undertaken in a written, multimodal or oral format. Approximately 50–70 minutes for a written response should be allocated, and 10 minutes for a multimodal or oral presentation. Written tasks must be completed under test conditions, or as an open-book activity; for example, where students are provided with the opportunity to annotate the selected practical activities to complete the written component. Time to read and annotate any stimulus materials may be provided in addition to the time allocated for the written component.

Oral or multimodal tasks may be presented live or may be pre-recorded. Time to prepare the oral or multimodal presentation should be provided in addition to the time allocated for the presentation component. 

Depending on the key knowledge and key science skills selected, as well as the structure of the task, different practical activities may be compared and evaluated by different students. Where choice of practical activities that are selected is provided, teachers should confirm that the task is comparable in scope and demand to ensure that the VCE Assessment Principles are met.

Teachers must decide the most appropriate time to set the task. This decision is the result of several considerations including:

• the estimated time it will take to cover the key knowledge and relevant key science skills
• when assessment tasks are being conducted in other studies and the workload implications for students.

Prior to the task students should be advised of the timeline, the conditions under which the task will be conducted and be informed of the key knowledge and key science skills that will be assessed.

Design the assessment task

When designing this task, teachers should refer to the following:

• Introduction and key knowledge of the outcome for the task selected
• Cross-study specifications, including key science skills outlined on pages 7 and 8 of the VCE Biology Study Design
• performance descriptors for the ‘analysis and evaluation of a biological case study’ included under Assessment. The performance descriptors may be modified to suit the key knowledge and key science skills addressed in each task. If devising a marking scheme, teachers should ensure higher order thinking skills such as comparison and evaluation are appropriately represented.  

Students are require to compare and evaluate the biological concepts, methodologies and methods, and findings from three student practical activities that have been conducted as part of the regular teaching and learning program. The assessment task should allow students to apply their understanding of the relevant key knowledge, describe and evaluate the methodologies and methods that were used in each practical activity, including limitations and possible sources of error and uncertainty, assess their ability to analyse, interpret and use primary data that has been recorded in their logbook, construct evidence-based arguments and draw conclusions, and demonstrate their ability to evaluate and communicate scientific information.

The selected practical activities may be compared in terms of the aim, design, data generated and findings of each practical activity, or students could be asked to compare the biological information, ideas, concepts, theories and models contained within each practical activity.

Students may be presented with an overarching question related to the selected outcome to which they are required to develop a response, using evidence from their logbook to support their comparison and evaluation. Students could also be provided with more open-ended questions; for example, a question that asks them to compare specific aspects of each practical activity, such as the methodology and method that they used to generate primary data.

If structured questions are used as part of a written task, the assessment task should have a number of different questions at various levels of complexity to allow for student performance at a range of levels. Specific VCE Biology Units 1–4 Key science skills should be blended with questions that explore key knowledge so that the key knowledge and key science skills are assessed in the context of the selected practical activities.

Questions and prompts should also provide students with the parameters and framework for a response that reflects the expected level of achievement or amount of allocated marks. This will help to discriminate between student responses during assessment. It is important that consideration be given to how the task will be marked and the expected levels of achievement or responses that will be required as part of the design process, prior to students undertaking the task.

Clear communication regarding expectations of students concerning any annotations of stimulus material and/or use of notes in assessed component of the ‘comparison and evaluation of biological concepts, methodologies and methods, and findings from three student practical activities’ is important for authentication. Authentication strategies can include, but are not limited to: the annotation of logbooks or creation of notes under teacher supervision, the collection of logbooks/annotations prior to the assessment lesson and re-distribution at the start of the assessment task, regular sighting of preparation work conducted out of class which is recorded by the teacher, use of the ‘VCAA School-assessed Coursework Authentication’ form for work completed outside of class, changing the practical activities used to develop the assessment task from year to year and changing the outcome that is used to form the basis of the assessment task from year to year. Teachers also need to ensure that any publicly available materials used to develop the assessment task are suitably adapted and/or modified to ensure that students’ work can be authenticated as their own.

Define the parameters that will form the basis of the assessment task

This sample approach to developing an assessment task is selected from the assessment tasks listed on page 32 and 38 of the VCE Biology Study Design, specifically the task that requires students to ‘analyse and evaluate a contemporary bioethical issue’. The task accounts for 40 marks of the 200 marks available for School-assessed Coursework in Unit 3 and Unit 4 and contributes 10 per cent to a student’s study score for VCE Biology.

Decide on the structure and conditions of the task

Review the outcome that the task has been chosen for and identify the key knowledge and the specific Units 1–4 Biology Key science skills (on pages 7 and 8 of the study design) that students will be expected to develop and demonstrate.

Decide whether the task will be undertaken in a written, multimodal or oral format. Approximately 50–70 minutes for a written response should be allocated, and 10 minutes for a multimodal or oral presentation. Written tasks must be completed under test conditions, or as an open-book activity; for example, where students are provided the opportunity to undertake research or respond to stimulus material to complete the written component. Time to undertake research and planning or read and annotate any stimulus materials should be provided in addition to the time allocated for the written response.

Multimodal or oral tasks may be presented live or may be pre-recorded. Time to prepare the multimodal or oral presentation should be provided in addition to the time allocated for the delivery of the presentation.
Depending on the key knowledge selected, as well as the structure of the task, different bioethical issues may be analysed and evaluated by different students. Where choice of bioethical issues is provided, teachers should confirm that the task is comparable in scope and demand to ensure that the VCE Assessment Principles are met.

The teacher must decide the most appropriate time to set the task. This decision is the result of several considerations including:

• the estimated time it will take to cover the key knowledge and relevant key science skills
• when assessment tasks are being conducted in other studies and the workload implications for students.

Prior to the task students should be advised of the timeline, the conditions under which the task will be conducted and be informed of the key knowledge and key science skills that will be assessed.

Design the assessment task

When designing this task, teachers should refer to the following:

• Introduction and key knowledge of the outcome for which the task selected
• Cross-study specifications, including key science skills outlined on pages 7 and 8 of the VCE Biology Study Design
• performance descriptors for the ‘analysis and evaluation of a contemporary bioethical issue’ included under Assessment. The performance descriptors may be modified to suit the key knowledge and key science skills addressed in each task. If devising a marking scheme, teachers should ensure higher order thinking skills such as analysis and evaluation are appropriately represented. 

Students are require to analyse and evaluate a contemporary bioethical issue that relates to the key knowledge for the outcome for which the task has been selected. A contemporary bioethical issue is an issue that has arisen (for example, in print and/or electronic media) within the last calendar year. Use of contemporary bioethical issues reflects current practice in the discipline and also assists with assessment authentication. The assessment task should allow students to apply their understanding of the relevant key knowledge, identify and analyse the selected bioethical issue, apply relevant approaches to bioethics and ethical concepts and select and justify a response to the selected bioethical issue.

Students may be presented with an overarching question related to the selected outcome to which they are required to develop a response; for example, using the VCE Biology Student Ethical Issue Reflection Tool to support their analysis and evaluation. Students could be provided with a set of resources and references that they can use to scaffold their response. Students may also work in groups to analyse the selected bioethical issue; however, each individual student should then develop and justify their own response and they are assessed on their individual response. Students’ responses may be presented as a written response or an oral or multimodal presentation, which may include genres such as a letter to the editor, opinion piece or newsletter article.

Students could also be provided with a stimulus item that outlines the contemporary bioethical issue and a set of open-ended questions that they then use to select and justify a response to the selected bioethical issue. Depending on the bioethical issue chosen, students could also be asked to consider the position of particular stakeholders and analyse and evaluate their position in terms of the approaches to bioethics and/or ethical concepts used to justify their position.

Questions and prompts should also provide students with the parameters and framework for a response that reflects the expected level of achievement or amount of allocated marks. This will help to discriminate between student responses during assessment.

If structured questions are used as part of a written task, the assessment task should have a number of different questions at various levels of complexity to allow for student performance at a range of levels. Specific VCE Biology Units 1–4 Key science skills should be blended with questions that explore key knowledge so that the key knowledge and key science skills are assessed in the context of the contemporary bioethical issue.

It is important that consideration be given to how the task will be marked and the expected levels of achievement or responses that will be required as part of the design process, prior to students undertaking the task.

Clear communication regarding expectations of students concerning any annotations of stimulus material and/or use of notes in assessed component of the ‘analysis and evaluation of a bioethical issue’ is important for authentication. Authentication strategies can include but are not limited to: planning, the annotation of stimulus materials and/or creation of notes completed under teacher supervision, the collection of logbooks/annotations prior to the assessment lesson and re-distribution at the start of the assessment task, regular sighting of preparation work conducted out of class which is recorded by the teacher, use of the ‘VCAA School-assessed Coursework Authentication’ form for work completed outside of class, changing the bioethical issues selected to develop the assessment task from year to year and changing the outcome that is used to form the basis of the assessment task from year to year. Teachers also need to ensure that any publicly available materials used to develop the assessment task are suitably adapted and/or modified to ensure that students’ work can be authenticated as their own.

Define the parameters that will form the basis of the assessment task

This sample approach to developing an assessment task is selected from the assessment tasks listed on page 38 of the VCE Biology Study Design, specifically the task that requires students to ‘communicate the design, analysis and findings of a student-designed and student-conducted investigation through a structured scientific poster and logbook entries’. The task accounts for 40 marks of the 120 marks available for School-assessed Coursework in Unit 4 and contributes 10 per cent to a student’s study score for VCE Biology.

Decide on the structure and conditions of the task

Determine whether the scientific investigation will be undertaken in either Unit 3 or Unit 4 or across both Units 3 and 4. Depending on the structure of the task, different outcomes and underpinning key knowledge may be investigated by different students. Students may also choose different methodologies and/or methods in designing their investigations.

Where choice of outcome, methodology and/or method for the student-designed investigations is provided, teachers should confirm that tasks are comparable in scope and demand to ensure that the VCE Assessment Principles are met.

The teacher should decide the most appropriate time to set the task. This decision is the result of several considerations including:

• the estimated time it will take to cover the key knowledge and relevant key science skills
• management of different student investigations
• availability of school resources to support the student investigations
• when assessment tasks are being conducted in other studies and the workload implications for students.

Prior to the task students should be advised of the timeline and the conditions under which the task will be conducted and be informed of the key knowledge and key science skills that will be assessed. Confirmation of the key knowledge and key science skills that will be assessed relevant to each student’s investigation should be negotiated between the teacher and the student prior to the investigation being undertaken.

Design the assessment task

When designing this task, teachers should refer to the following:

• Introduction and key knowledge included in Unit 4 Outcome 3.
• Cross-study specifications, including key science skills outlined on pages 7 and 8 of the VCE Biology Study Design
• Scientific Investigations section under Planning.
• Performance descriptors for the Unit 4 Outcome 3 task included under Assessment. Teachers should note that the Performance Descriptors are not mandated. The performance descriptors may be modified to suit the structure of the student-designed investigations conducted by each specific school cohort of students. If devising a marking scheme to assess the task, teachers should ensure higher order thinking skills and command terms used in the outcome statements and assessment tasks such as ‘design’, ‘analyse’, ‘evaluate’ and ‘communicate’ are appropriately represented. 

It is expected that the student-designed investigation will be a ‘coupled’ or ‘open’ scientific investigation and that students will undertake each of the phases listed in the Designing investigations section of under Scientific Investigations.

Depending on the investigation question that is developed, a controlled experiment may not be the best scientific investigation methodology to select in order to answer the question. However, the investigation question and scientific investigation methodology selected must allow for the generation of primary data.

The investigation exploration, planning and investigation phases of a student’s scientific investigation should be appropriately recorded and authenticated in students’ logbooks and the information contained in the logbook should be used by teachers to individually assess a student’s ability to design and conduct a scientific investigation.

Sections of the processing, reporting and further investigation phases of a student’s scientific investigation may be assessed using both the logbook and the scientific poster that is created to convey the overall design and findings of the scientific investigation. Teachers should spend time supporting students to understand the key sections and design principles of communication for the poster format in the VCE Biology Study Design 2022–2026. It may be appropriate for students to complete aspects of a scientific report, such as results and discussion of their investigation in their logbooks, which is then assessed before students are assessed on their ability to use clear, coherent and concise expression and representations to a specific audience for a specific purpose through the construction of the scientific poster.

In some circumstances, students may design an investigation that cannot be safely conducted or may be beyond the scope of the VCE Biology Study Design. In particular, the general guiding principle behind ethical research is to do no harm to participants, including non-human animals, the researcher and community. Teachers should guard against investigation questions that may be inappropriate for secondary school student researchers and be mindful of particular sensitivities within their school community and broader community. In the circumstance that a student is assessed as having designed an investigation that cannot be safely conducted, they may be provided with an alternative method to then generate primary data.
Due to the time available to design, conduct and report the finding of their scientific investigation, students must be practical and realistic when deciding on investigation topics. Teachers should be equally pragmatic when advising students about their choice of investigation topics and when guiding the students in the formulation of the investigation question. Appropriate teacher intervention not only minimises risks but also serves as formative feedback for students.

Sometimes the primary data generated by students is inadequate in enabling them to draw meaningful conclusions in relation to their investigation question. In this circumstance, students may be provided with secondary data for analysis.

Students are assessed on their capacity to design an investigation. Typically, this is assessed in relation to a student’s planned investigation. An alternative approach is to assess a student’s capacity to extend or ask a further question as a coupled experiment to an initial investigation undertaken. This is particularly useful for schools with large student cohorts when they are managing resources and assessment.

It is important that consideration be given as to how the task will be marked and the expected levels of achievement or responses that will be required as part of the task design process, prior to students undertaking the task. Students should be advised as to how levels of achievement will be determined. Providing students with assessment rubrics prior to them undertaking the assessment task aligns to the VCE assessment principle of equity.

Clear communication regarding expectations of students concerning the use of the logbook and/or use of notes in assessed component of the student-designed investigation is important for authentication. Depending on the structure of the task, authentication strategies can include but are not limited to: the annotation of logbooks or creation of notes under teacher supervision; the collection of logbooks/annotations prior to the creation of the scientific poster and re-distribution at the start of the session/s allocated to create the scientific poster; regular sighting of preparation work conducted out of class which is recorded by the teacher; use of the ‘VCAA School-assessed Coursework Authentication’ form for work completed outside class; and changing the outcome or scientific investigation methodology that is used to form the basis of the assessment task from year to year in cases where only one outcome and methodology are used by a school. Teachers also need to ensure that any publicly available materials used to develop the assessment task are suitably adapted and/or modified to ensure that students’ work can be authenticated as their own.